Wind-tunnel investigation of the effects of various dorsal-fin and vertical-tail configurations on the directional stability of a streamlined body at transonic speeds : transonic-bump method

Yawing-moment coefficients were obtained for several dorsal-fin and vertical-tail configurations in combination with a streamlined body through a large angle-of-sideslip range and a Mach number range of 0.59 to 1.11. The results indicated that dorsal fins improved the directional stability characteristics of the body alone and the body-vertical-tail configuration. A ring tail was more effective at small angles of sideslip and less effective at large angles of sideslip than a tapered low-aspect-ratio vertical tail.